| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | CA and Consulting |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Director (Consulting) |
| Direct reports | Engagement Manager, Consulting Manager, Senior Consultant |
| Experience | 10 or more years in consulting, with 3 or more years managing engagement managers |
Associate Director (Consulting) job description template
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Job title: Associate Director (Consulting)
Department: CA and Consulting
Reports to: Director (Consulting)
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
An Associate Director in a consulting firm owns a portfolio of client accounts and a group of engagement managers. They sit one step below the Director, carry a delivery and revenue target for a service line, and are the senior face the client escalates to. The role wins repeat work, keeps large engagements profitable, and grows managers into engagement leaders. A good Associate Director turns a few good accounts into a steady book of business and rarely lets a delivery slip reach the Director.
Key responsibilities
- Own a portfolio of client accounts, set the yearly delivery and revenue target for each, and track the book against plan every month.
- Review engagement plans, staffing and budgets before work starts, and step in when an engagement drifts on scope, cost or timeline.
- Build senior relationships in client organizations, meet decision makers each quarter, and turn delivered work into repeat and referral business.
- Scope and price new proposals, defend fees in negotiation, and sign off statements of work within the authority the Director delegates.
- Run monthly account reviews with engagement managers on margin, utilization, receivables and open risks, and agree corrective actions.
- Resolve delivery escalations that managers cannot close, and protect the firm on quality, independence and reputational risk.
- Coach engagement and consulting managers, set their goals, and decide promotions and staffing moves with the Director.
- Track receivables on the portfolio, push for billing on milestones, and keep debtor days within the firm's target.
- Contribute to service line strategy, offerings and thought leadership, and represent the firm at industry forums.
- Report portfolio performance, pipeline and people risks to the Director and the leadership team each month.
Requirements
- MBA, CA, or a postgraduate degree in a relevant field
- Deep domain knowledge in the service line led
- A consulting or industry certification is an advantage
- 10 or more years in consulting, with 3 or more years managing engagement managers
KRAs and KPIs for a Associate Director (Consulting)
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Portfolio revenue | Portfolio revenue delivered at or above the agreed yearly target, tracked monthly |
| Engagement margin | Average gross margin across the portfolio held at or above the firm's threshold |
| Client retention | Repeat or renewed work secured from at least 80 percent of active accounts each year |
| Delivery quality | No engagement escalated to the Director for a delivery failure in the quarter |
| Receivables | Debtor days on the portfolio kept within the firm's target every month |
| People development | Every manager has current goals and a review done on time each cycle |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, Project and resource planning tools, CRM software, Financial reporting tools.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Director (Consulting), Partner (CA Firm), Practice Head
Interview questions for a Associate Director (Consulting)
- How do you build a yearly account plan for a portfolio, and how do you know when a client account is at risk?
- An engagement is running 20 percent over budget in month two. What do you do as the account owner?
- Walk me through how you priced and defended a large proposal that the client felt was too expensive.
- How do you decide which manager leads which engagement when two are equally busy?
- Tell me about a delivery escalation you owned. How did you protect the relationship and the margin?
- How do you grow revenue from an existing account without overselling to the client?
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What does an associate director in consulting do?
An associate director owns a group of client accounts and the managers who deliver them. They carry a revenue and margin target for a service line, win repeat work, keep engagements profitable and coach engagement managers. They are the senior contact a client escalates to, and they report portfolio performance to the director.
What is the difference between an associate director and a director in consulting?
An associate director runs a portfolio of accounts and delivers the numbers a director sets. A director owns a whole practice or service line, its strategy and its profit and loss, and holds the most senior client relationships. The director sets direction and targets; the associate director makes the portfolio deliver them.
How do you become an associate director in a consulting firm?
Most reach the role after ten or more years in consulting, moving from consultant to manager to engagement manager while building a track record of profitable delivery and repeat clients. A strong domain reputation, proposal wins and the ability to grow other managers usually decide the promotion.